Outgoing Ekurhuleni executive mayor Mzwandile Masina has moved to commend the coalition pact in which the ANC was forced co-govern with other smaller parties after the 2016 municipal elections.

Masina was on Wednesday delivering his last State of the City Address in Germiston, where he detailed the achievements he had made with the help of other smaller parties when they formed a coalition government five years ago.

Following the 2016 local government elections, the ANC suffered a massive electoral setback in Ekurhuleni as it, for the first time, failed to secure a clear majority vote in order to form a government on its own.

“The milestones we have shared clearly show that the ANC-led coalition government is the best for the people of for the people of this country, if not of Gauteng,” he said.

Masina hailed the ANC coalition partners – the African Independent Congress (AIC), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the Independent Ratepayers Association of South Africa (IRASA) – for helping improve governance in the city.

“We may differ in certain aspects of our work. However, we have been able to deliver a better life for all for the people of Ekurhuleni.

Masina said the coalition government had built a robust governance system which culminated in effective oversight committees that enabled the executive to be held to account during his term.

“In addition, municipal governance has endeavored to ensure an existence of a compliant system. This is witnessed by the continued attainment of unqualified audit reports that significantly paid attention to the reduction of unauthorizsed, irregular and fruitless expenditure. I must say that over the past four years we have not incurred these as the city,” he said.

When he took office, Masina had indicated that the city would deliver 100,000 housing units and around 60,000 serviced stands to residents during his term.

He said his administration had delivered 42,773 housing units and 26,543 serviced stands, and regularized 39 townships, with 33,605 titled deeds distributed to beneficiaries during his term.

He said his government had electrified 40 informal settlements. He said his administration had also prioritized skills development, adding that the metro had increased its tertiary bursary allocation from R10m million to R100m million per annum, with 9,000 students having benefitted to the tune of almost half-a-billion rand to date.

He said while some of the service delivery commitments of delivering electrification, bulk infrastructure, and storm water and sanitation would not be completed by the end of his term in the next six months, work was underway.

With around six months left before his term of office, it still remains unclear if Masina will look for a second term at the helm of the metro, should the ANC win at the polls.

DA leader in the city Tania Campbell, however, poured cold water on the achievements.